What to do, what to do? Little Johnny is pretty good and is definitely better than Marcus. Yep, Travel Basketball is the right place for Little Johnny! Maybe....maybe not.
The decision to place your child into a competitive, travel sport situation is not one to take likely. There are several factors that you need to consider other than you want your child to be on a competitive team.
Does your child have a competitive personality?
Is your child's coordination behind or ahead of others his age?
Are you committed to the time and effort required for a travel team?
Can your child focus and learn or does he struggle with instruction?
Am I doing this because my child wants to or because I want them to?
These are just a few questions you need to ask yourself - honestly ask yourself - before deciding to either let your child tryout or be placed in a competitive environment. In some situations, you can get better instruction and face better competition in a Travel program. These two ingredients are key to an athletes growth. However, if a child is not ready to face that level of competition, you could be doing a disservice to your child and actually have them experience a regression in their development.
Recreational programs are great for some kids and can serve as a confidence builder and an opportunity for them to have success. The key is the quality of instruction. In our community we have two great recreational programs in basketball - Optimist and Upward. Our competitive organization, S.i.R., is good for the kids ready to travel and compete and in theory, serves as the "feeder" program for our high school. If you don't play S.i.R. can you still play in high school? Yes. Does it help to play S.i.R.? I would say yes, but it depends. Again, the key is instruction. You can get solid teaching in a recreational program and poor teaching in a competitive program. It depends on the coach, their experience and the connection that may or may not occur between a player and a coach.
So, in the question on Travel vs Recreational, my answer is simple...it never hurts to try. You will know during tryouts how you measure up against the other kids. Don't forget, you don't have to be the best player. There typically is only one kid who is the best, right? Will you work hard? Will you learn? Will you practice at home? If you are not selected, don't hang your head. Continue to work on your game and have fun playing in a recreational program the next season. Remember that Michael Jordon was cut from his high school team!
As the saying goes, you miss 100% of the shots you never take. Why not take a shot?
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